


Of Aches and Ears

by SabbyStarlight



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Bromance, Fluff, Found Family Feels, Gen, Hurt Mac, Kinda, Sickfic, Steady comforting slightly worried Jack, Whump, hurt comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:01:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28777209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SabbyStarlight/pseuds/SabbyStarlight
Summary: Hey friends!  If you're worried about tonight's episode and want to pretend it isn't happening for a little while, here's a quick little fluffy, whumpy fic where not only is Jack alive and well, but he's where he belongs:  home and taking care of his kid.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 84





	Of Aches and Ears

It started on the flight home. Mac always crashed on the jet's couch once the mission was finally over, that was nothing unusual. As was him waking up with an hour or two left before they landed. Even after all the years they had spent working with DXS and then Phoenix, he still wasn't able to completely let his guard down until he was home, even in the safety of the familiar plane. The scrunch of his eyebrows as he pushed himself up to sitting though, that spoke of pain. It was a look Jack was, unfortunately, all too familiar with on his partner's face and he didn't like it. "Mornin'," He said, knowing the quickest way to get Mac to clam up and try to hide whatever was bothering him was to overwhelm him with hovering and questions before he had a chance to admit to himself that he was hurting.

"Not morning," Mac grumbled, squinting out the closest window as if the midday sun had personally offended him. If things were going in the direction Jack was afraid they were though, it might have.

He shrugged. "I stand by my words. How'd you sleep?"

"Okay, I thought," Mac frowned, running a hand through his hair and only managing to make it stick up even worse than his nap had left it.

"Yeah? What changed your mind?"

"Nothing," Mac insisted, though Jack wasn't sure which of them he was trying to convince as he stood up and headed towards the restroom tucked away at the back of the plane. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, sure you are," Jack muttered once Mac was out of hearing range.

Mac's hair had been properly combed back into place when he returned, shirt collar damp from the water he had splashed on his face, but Jack wasn't going to call him out on either of those things. The fact that he was still hurting, on the other hand, wasn't something Jack was willing to let slide. He was waiting on Mac's couch when he went to sit down. "You got your meds with you?" He asked, taking care to keep his voice low, not wanting to make Mac's headache worse.

"In my bag," Mac confirmed, having learned the hard way to not go on an op without bringing them along. "But it's not a migraine."

"No?" It was Jack's turn to frown, not sure what was throwing him more: the fact that Mac had willingly admitted to hurting or the fact that he had been wrong in diagnosing the problem. "What's up then?"

Mac began to protest but Jack cut him off with a raised hand. "And don't tell me it's nothin'. That ship has sailed, brother. And you're not on it."

"It's stupid," Mac hedged. "Probably nothing."

"Something's hurting you. Whatever it is, it's not nothing."

"My ear kinda hurts," Mac admitted with a sigh. "See? It’s stupid."

"Ain't stupid," Jack assured, though he was a little surprised. An ear ache hadn't even begun to cross his mind as a possibility. But now that he knew, he noticed the way Mac had one shoulder slightly shrugged upwards as if fighting a constant battle to keep from pressing the offending ear down into it in an attempt to find some relief. "This one?" He asked, reaching out and letting careful fingers slide into Mac's hair at his temple. Mac nodded, leaning into the touch and prompting Jack to begin his search in earnest, looking for anything that would dare to hurt his kid. "You didn't get hit, right? And not tell me? No knocks to the head, bumps or bruises you didn't think were worth mentioning?"

"Nothing," Mac shook his head again. "Not that I remember, at least. I was fine when we boarded."

"And you just woke up hurting?"

"Yeah, the pain's what woke me up," Mac confirmed. "I guess it could be the altitude," He mused, not giving up on his never-ending quest for answers even when he wasn't feeling well. "Pressure changes, maybe."

"Flying's never bothered you before though," Jack sat back, not finding the source of the problem hidden beneath Mac's hair. "Anything else feelin' off?"

Mac considered it for a moment before answering. "Nothing that can't be chalked up to exhaustion. Kinda feels like we’ve been going nonstop forever. I'm a little run-down, but nothing that's a cause for concern."

"Except the ear."

"Yeah, but I still feel really dumb complaining about an ear ache."

"If it's hurtin' you, it's serious," Jack argued, reaching out again, palm coming to rest on Mac's forehead. "You might be a little warm. Probably should get you looked over by someone other than me."

"Oh no," Mac protested as if he could see what Jack was thinking. "We're not making an unauthorized stop. Not for an ear ache."

"Somethin's wrong, kid. And we need to find out what that somethin' is before it gets worse."

"I'll stop in at Medical before going home," Mac conceded, hoping it would be enough of a compromise to satisfy Jack. "And make sure it really is nothing. But we're not landing the plane to walk into some random ER. Not for this."

Jack sighed. "You'll really get checked out? Without complaint?"

"I'm not agreeing to the whole not complaining thing," Mac answered with a smirk. "But yeah, if it keeps hurting like this I'll go in."

"No, now I ain't lettin' you con your way outta this one," Jack argued. "I agree to that and you stop hurting about the time we get wheels down and you put up a big fuss about how you only agreed to go if it was still bothering you. You say you'll go, regardless, and we've got a deal. I won't bother you for the rest of the flight."

"You don't bother me," Mac corrected with a small smile. "But yeah, okay. I'll go."

"Hurtin' bad enough you don't care, huh?" Jack asked in sympathy and Mac nodded miserably, reaching up to rub behind his ear. "Not even gonna try and fight me on this?"

"It's not a fight I'd win," Mac shrugged. "What's the point?"

"You ain't wrong, but that don't mean I'm happy about it," Jack looked around the familiar plane cabin, searching for a way to help his hurting kid. "I don't know what to do to help you, pal. This isn't something I can fix. I don't even feel safe givin' you somethin' for the pain until we know what the cause is. Wouldn't want to make things worse."

"I'll be fine," Mac tried for reassuring but it was far from convincing. "We'll be there in a couple of hours."

He didn't like it, not one bit, but the least Jack could do was try and break some of the tension as he left the couch, giving Mac some space. Not all the way back to his original seat, that was too far away, but to the closest one so he would be within reach if Mac needed him. "Maybe you got a spider in there," He teased. "And that's why it's hurtin'. That can happen, you know. They crawl in, lay some eggs, and in a few weeks you got a whole family of baby spiders all up in there."

It earned him a smile from his partner, even if it was accompanied by an eye roll as he laid back down on the couch to ride out the rest of the flight.

It was the longest flight Jack had been on in a very long time, with Mac antsy and uncomfortable, trying his best to fall back asleep despite the growing ache and Jack unable to fix it. He thought it was going to get easier once they began descending, at least that meant they were nearing help, but the pressure changes as the altitude dropped only made things worse. Knuckles white as he gripped the side of the couch, eyes squinted closed, it got worse and worse until they finally landed at the Phoenix airstrip.

"All right, buddy," Jack left his seat and crossed the few quick steps to get to Mac. "Let's get you inside. You got a date with the fine folks of Phoenix Med."

"Debrief first," Mac protested, accepting Jack's outreached hand to pull him to sitting. "Then Medical."

"No way," Jack argued. "You said you'd go. You ain't gettin' out of this one. Not sure why you'd even want to, seein' as how you're absolutely miserable at the moment."

"Didn't say I was trying to get out of it. Said I want to get our post-mission report out of the way first."

Jack shook his head. "That can wait. Your health can't."

"Please?" Mac looked up at his partner, pain shining in his blue eyes. "I'll go, I will, but I don't want to have to debrief after. I want to be able to know I can go home and try and sleep this off once we have some answers."

"Buddy, the way you're hurtin'?" Jack sighed. "Home isn't even on the menu right now. I think you might be stuck there for a little while."

Mac smiled smugly, determination fueling his movements as he stood up, locking his knees as they trembled. "All the more reason to get debrief out of the way first."

"You're not going to do that thing where you put off getting checked out and then when it isn't bothering you as bad as it is right now you try and talk your way out of it, right?" Jack asked as he hovered just behind Mac as the pair made their way slowly off the plane, hovering arms outstretched and ready to catch his partner at the first sign that he needed help. “Cause you told me you wouldn’t do that.”

"As long as you agree not to treat me like I'm some fragile thing made of glass until we get there, sure." Mac agreed.

Jack couldn't think of a single thing-made of glass or otherwise-that was more important than his kid, but he knew that voicing that thought wouldn't help his case any so kept it to himself.

Just like the plane ride, it was the longest debrief Jack had been a part of in a very, very long time. They were awful on a good day: Easily the worst part of their job, but sitting there and answering boring, repetitive questions while his partner was hurting next to him made the experience even worse. Eventually, Matty took pity on them, unable to ignore Mac's one-word answers and the way his head was turned to the side, ear pressed against his shoulder as he tried to find some relief from the pain.

"Okay," She sighed, closing the cover on her tablet and setting it down on the desk in front of her. "Go get checked out. Find out what's wrong. I don't want to see either of you for a few days, at least."

"Thank you," Jack met her gaze as he stood, clapping a gentle hand against Mac's shoulder.

She smiled. "Let me know what you find out?"

"Course," Jack nodded, barely registering the words, his attention already entirely focused back onto his partner.

"You doin' okay, pal?" Jack asked softly once the door had closed behind them and they were in the empty hallway. He slowly raised a hand, making sure Mac was tracking his movements before letting it come to rest against Mac's forehead. "I still say you're runnin' a little warm."

"Not really," Mac admitted with a sigh. "Hurting bad enough that I don't care I'm about to walk into medical complaining about an ear ache like I'm some little kid that picked up too many germs on the playground."

"Let's go get some answers then," Jack decided, pressing the button for the elevator, doing his best to keep from fidgeting nervously as they waited.

Mac and Jack were a team that, when they were finally dragged into the clutches of Phoenix Med, the staff there never knew exactly what to expect. It was usually a fairly dire situation that scared one or the other into a visit. Bleeding out, barely conscious, various-and usually multiple-states of brokenness were all normal occurrences for the pair, so when they walked in, both seemingly on their own free will with no visible injuries, it was enough to warrant a second look.

"What kind of trouble did you two get yourselves into this time?" Laurel asked with a sigh, green eyes quickly scanning over the both of them, looking for visible injuries.

"You can keep that stab-happy gaze off of me," Jack held up his hands in innocence. "This visit's all for Mac."

"Mac?" Her attention shifted to focus only on him. "What's up?"

Jack had wondered if Mac would even be willing to admit the problem himself or if he would have to step in and explain. It was a testament to just how much the kid was hurting when he offered up a mumbled "My ear hurts," as an explanation.

Professional as always, or maybe it was the years spent at Phoenix Med that had left her unable to be surprised by whatever newest cases walked through the door, Laurel didn't even react at the unusual admission. "Alright," She nodded towards the exam rooms down the hall. "Let's go get it checked out."

"He's running a fever," Jack added as he trailed close behind.

"No," Mac corrected as he climbed up onto the table. "Jack thinks I'm running a fever. Doesn't mean I actually am."

"Any other symptoms of a cold or anything?" Laurel asked as she fastened a blood pressure cuff around his arm.

Mac sighed at Jack's expectant look, sending him a quick eye roll before answering. "Nothing that can't be explained away as just being tired."

"We have been goin' pretty hard for a couple'a weeks," Jack admitted. "Hell, It's startin' to catch up with me. Thinkin' he's just exhausted ain't really his fault."

"Any hits to the head?" Laurel asked, the question punctuated with the velcro ripping apart as she removed the cuff from Mac's arm. "Not-quite concussions you didn't feel the need to come in for?"

Jack sent a raised eyebrow Mac's way. He had already checked once, and he personally didn't remember anything, but his boy was notorious for trying to hide things like that, not wanting the attention on him even when he needed it.

"Nothing," Mac assured, meeting Jack's gaze with nothing but honesty shining through the pain in his blue eyes.

"I think a spider's crawled up in there," Jack supplied with a teasing grin. "That can happen, right? That's a thing?"

"Explosions?" Laurel continued, ignoring Jack's suggestions and holding up a thermometer before placing it beneath Mac’s tongue. "Doesn't necessarily have to have been one of those bombs you're so fond of. Any loud noises?"

"Not that I remember," Jack answered for him and Mac shook his head in agreement as soon as the device beeped.

"Jack's right," She frowned down at the reading on the thermometer in her hand. "About the fever, thing. Not the spider. 99.8. A little warm."

"Told ya," Jack grinned proudly. "Sometimes Jack knows these things. Now what's causing it?"

"How long has it been bothering you?" Laurel asked, gloved hands prodding along either side of his neck.

"A few hours," Mac admitted, eyes flicking to Jack's for confirmation. "Maybe four? It started on the flight home. We went to debrief first-"

"Which I told him was a bad idea," Jack interrupted.

"I wouldn't have let it go on for long. Not hurting this bad."

"Alright, as soon as one of the doctors here tonight is free I'll send them in. Get some answers," Laurel assured, snagging an otoscope from the rack hanging on the wall. "I'm just going to rule out Jack's spider theory real quick though," she teased, stepping closer to Mac's side. "No point in taking the time to add that to your records." Her joking tone shifted, all teasing was quickly pushed aside as a heavy weight fell across the room when she got her first look at the source of the problem. "Okay, I don't know why I have to remind one of you two of this every couple of months, but now is not the time to downplay things, Mac," she warned. "Seriously. We're throwing the tough-guy act out the window. How long has this been bothering you?"

"It just started earlier today," Mac frowned as Jack stepped closer, ready to try and protect Mac from whatever problem they were facing. "Really. Why?"

* * *

Bozer met them at the front door, swinging it open for the two of them and waving them inside. "Hurry up, get in out of the weather," he scolded, barely giving Jack enough time to step into the entryway before he was closing the door behind him.

"What weather?" Mac laughed, turning around to look back out the window at the warm LA sunshine.

"I don't care how nice it is out there," Bozer steered him down the hall. "You're sick, you don't need out in it."

"I think it's considered more of an injury than an illness," Mac couldn't help but correct and was met with two sets of brown eyes glaring at him.

"I don't care what you wanna call it," Jack crossed his arms, silently daring Mac to argue with him. "You're takin' it easy for a good long while until you're better."

"Never said I wasn't."

"You have a ruptured eardrum, Mac!" Bozer exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration and leaving the Mac wrangling to Jack as he headed back to the smell of the soup he had bubbling away on the stove. "How does that even happen? Let alone without you knowing it?"

"Our best guess is he picked up an infection when we took a dip in that lake a couple of weeks back," Jack explained, a hand on Mac's shoulder as they followed Bozer into the kitchen. "It wasn't the most glamorous of exit plans, but it sure was effective. And then it just kinda hung around, getting worse until the altitude changes of our exfil flight were finally enough to send things over the edge."

"Leave it to the two of you," Bozer scoffed.

"I really am fine," Mac insisted as Jack pulled out a bar stool for him. "It hurts but I've had way worse."

"Yeah, but this is a new one," Jack argued. "So I don't know how to deal with it. And you know I hate the ones I can't see. How am I supposed to keep you safe from something I don't even know is there trying to hurt you?"

"Years of practice?" Mac suggested, reaching a hand up to rub at his ear.

"Well, I hate it. And I don’t know how to make you feel better and I hate that too. Hey, stop doin' that," Jack scolded gently, pulling Mac's hand away.

"It hurts," Mac complained with a scowl. “And the cotton they packed it with is itchy.”

"Why don't you go lay down for a little while?" Bozer interrupted what promised to be the first of many times he would have to hear that exchange between Mac and Jack. "When Jack called I figured Medical would want to keep you a little longer than they did. Soup won't be ready for another hour or so. You might as well get some sleep until then."

"Nah, I'm alright here," Mac protested, his hand reaching up automatically to rub at his ear again before catching Jack's glare and dropping it back to the countertop with a huff.

"Mac," Jack warned. "You really wanna start fighting about this already? We're like, five minutes in, kid. And you said you'd rest if I brought you home instead of letting them keep you overnight. Promised me. And you're hurting. Go try to sleep it off. I'll come get you when Bozer has dinner done."

"It's hurting too bad to sleep," Mac admitted, ducking his head, not wanting to meet Jack's eyes but hoping an honest admission of pain would get his partner to cut him some slack. "And I have to do meds in…" a quick pause to glance at his watch. "Almost two hours anyway. Might as well stay up until after we get the drops out of the way and hopefully then I'll be able to get some real rest."

"We," Jack corrected automatically. "We have meds in almost two hours. That was another promise you made, remember? That you'd let me help you out with those?"

Mac grinned shyly. "Yeah, I remember. I just don't see the point in laying down when you're going to have to wake me up in a little while anyway."

"Go curl up on the couch then?" Jack suggested, willing to compromise if Mac was. "Get comfy, rest without really committing to it?"

"Okay," Mac agreed, scooting the bar stool back and wincing at the sound of it scraping across the floor. "Couch sounds kinda great at the moment."

If Mac noticed the discreet fist bump Jack and Bozer exchanged before Jack began trailing behind him to the living room, he didn't mention it.

"Alright. Sit down before you fall down, Jack instructed, arms open and hovering on either side of Mac’s shoulders. “You’re swayin’ all over the place.”

“It’s throwing me a little off-balance,” Mac admitted. “I’m fine as long as I stay still.”

“Blanket, pillow, somethin' to drink, book, remote," Jack began reciting the list of things Mac could possibly need to make himself comfortable. "What do you need? What can I get you?"

"A partner who isn't freaking out and doing a terrible job of trying to hide it?" Mac suggested with an eye roll as he pressed his ear into his shoulder, trying to alleviate some of the pain. "Seriously, I'm fine. Just, I don't know, sit down or something."

"I know you always think it's super fun," Jack dropped to sitting on the coffee table in front of Mac. "When you get to check another one off the list of Cool New Injuries Mac Hasn't Got To Experience Yet," He raised up a silencing hand when Mac attempted to cut in and protest. "No, now don't even go tryin' to tell me that isn't a real list, cause I know it is. You might not have it written out or anything, but it's there in that brain of yours. And that's fine. You're a weird little nerd who likes learning. Nothin' wrong with that. But all that list is to me is a million and one things I'm not going to be able to protect you from. So you can't blame me for gettin' a little worked up when we come across something I don't know how to help you fix. It's bad enough that I let you get hurt in the first place, but now I can't even make it better for you when you start hurting."

"There really isn't a list," Mac insisted with a small smile. "And honestly? Yeah, it hurts, but I'm just glad there's an actual reason for it. I felt so stupid going in there and complaining about an ear ache. It's almost a relief to know there's really something wrong and I'm not just a wimp."

"I could'a told you that without you having to go and blow up your eardrum to find out," Jack rolled his eyes, unable to keep himself from reaching out and brushing Mac's hair away from his forehead, using the practiced move as an excuse to get in a quick check on the low-grade fever his kid was still running. "I'm sorry you're hurting, bud."

"It's okay," Mac shrugged. "There isn't anything you can do about it, it's got to heal on its own."

"And I hate it," Jack reminded him with a frown before his eyes lit up with an idea and he jumped up to standing. "Actually, I was doin' some reading while we were waiting for them to send you home. There's a few things we can try."

Mac didn't have a chance to question what his partner was planning before Jack had left the room, rejoining Bozer in the kitchen and returning a few moments later with a folded up dishtowel, slightly steaming, carefully held at the corners. "Here, put this on it," He instructed holding the towel out to Mac. "It's supposed to help, but be careful, it's hot."

"Couldn't make me feel much worse," Mac decided with a sigh as he took the cloth from Jack, tilting his head to the side and sweeping his hair out of the way before pressing the warm towel to his ear.

"There's a trick with a coffee mug we can try too if that don't work," Jack said. "But this seemed easier. Though I gotta say, that don't look too comfy, bein' all hunched over sideways like that."

"It'll be worth it if it helps."

"Sure, but I ain't gonna let you go messin' up your neck to fix your ear," Jack protested. "That'd be dumb. Here," He carefully stepped around Mac's feet so he could sit on the other end of the couch and patted his thigh. "Lay down."

"Jack..."

"You'll feel a whole lot better," Jack coaxed. "And it's not like I plan on goin' anywhere anytime soon. Might as well make the most of it and let me be your pillow for a while. Keep your arm from gettin' all tired too, holdin' it up there like that."

"If a picture of me asleep on you like this ends up on Bozer's phone later you're going to be in so much trouble," Mac warned as he gave in and laid down, making himself comfortable.

"Thought you weren't going to sleep yet?" Jack teased as he began to drag his fingers through Mac's hair. "Remember that?"

"That was before I was comfy," Mac spoke around a yawn that made his ear pop, the throbbing pain flashing stronger for a moment that left his hand twisting into the fabric of Jack's shirt against his will. "Ow."

"Easy, now," Jack carefully tucked the warm cloth back into place before letting his free hand make a couple of passes up and down Mac's arm. "Go on. Get some rest. I gotcha."

"Always do," Mac muttered, eyes already drifting closed.

"Always will," Jack promised. It was the last thing Mac heard before he fell asleep.


End file.
